Judge Rules that Sect Kids Will Stay in State Custody

SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) - A judge has ruled today that the 416 children taken into state custody from a ranch run by a polygamist sect will stay in state custody and be subject to genetic testing.

Texas District Judge Barbara Walther heard 21 hours of testimony over two days before ruling that the children would be kept in state custody. Individual hearings will be set for the children over the next several weeks.

She ordered that all children and parents be given genetic testing. Child welfare officials have said they've had difficulty determining how the children and parents are related because of evasive or changing answers.